Can someone explain Champions?

Surgo · Post by **Surgo** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:48 am

I've seen it thrown around here a lot as a weird but good system, but I'm not quite sure what people are actually referring to when they mention it. Do they mean the Hero system (5th edition or whatever), or the Champions book in particular?

Both look pretty interesting but the prices are a little, well, pricey for PDFs, so I don't really want to shell out for them until I have a use for them and also know they are worthwhile.

DragonChild · Post by **DragonChild** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:13 am

HERO is generally what people are referring to when they say "Champions". The system used to be called Champions way back when and was superhero specific, but eventually turned into HERO. Almost anyone talking about it on the den likely means HERO 5th, as HERO 6th is brand new. System-wise, Champions and HERO mean the same thing.

The Champions book, and the other genre books (Star HERO, Fantasy HERO, etc) are usually extremely crunch-light, or very easy to port, and contain a lot of great information and advice. Anyone making a new sci-fi setting needs to read Star HERO, IMO, even if it's not a HERO game.

Surgo · Post by **Surgo** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:50 am

Holy cow their PDFs are expensive, even for their really old books from like 2002. I sent them an email asking what was up with that; hope I get a response soon.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:56 am

Josh_Kablack wrote:Here's what Google search turn up of my prior posts on Champs/Hero as a system:

http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=48 ... highlight=

http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=64 ... highlight=

http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=10142

from official game site wrote: Q: What's the difference between Champions and the HERO System?

A: The HERO System rules are the rules used to play Champions and create Champions characters. Originally the two were indistinguishable (and even today many long-time players tend to use the terms interchangeably). When Hero Games began publishing other games (such as Espionage and Justice Inc.) using the same rules, it began referring to "the HERO System" as a separate thing from Champions. This culminated in the 4th Edition of Champions/the HERO System in 1989, when for the first time the company published a HERO System rulebook separate from the Champions book (which also included those same rules). This emphasized the fact that the HERO System is a "generic" roleplaying game rules set that can be used for any type of RPG - Fantasy, Pulp, Espionage, Military Action, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Cyberpunk - not just Superheroes.

When DOJ began publishing HERO System books in 2002, we took things one step further. Rather than sell fans the same material twice, we organized our main books into the rulebook and what we call "genre books." Our current rulebook is The HERO System 5th Edition, Revised, which contains only the HERO System rules. It doesn't have any setting information at all and isn't aimed at Champions or any other genre specifically. Our 5th Edition of Champions is a "genre book" - it reviews a genre (in this case, Superheroes), discusses and describes it and its elements in detail, and then shows how to use the HERO System rules to create characters and campaigns in that genre. Unlike the four previous editions, the 5th Edition of Champions does not include the HERO System rules; the rulebook is a separate book.

And I said fuck the PDFs, just get a hardcover.